James Heller is serving on another patrol mission in the Red Zone of NYZ listening to the other Marines gripe about the suicidal nature of patrolling the Red Zone when their APC is hit with a flying car chasis. When Heller wakes up, all of the squad lay dead. As he scans the area, Alex Mercer lands nearby. As Mercer examines the bodies, Heller whips out his combat knife, charges Mercer, and slits his throat...which has no effect. As Heller recovers, Mercer taunts him from afar. Heller follows him deeper into the Red Zone, where a Blackwatch helicopter halts him, but is destroyed by Mercer. Soon after, Heller challenges Mercer to a duel. But, before anything happens, Heller is confronted by a monstrous Infected. He runs to a nearby ruined building, and escapes the monster. Suddenly, he is pounced on by a smaller, but deadly Infected, but is able to kill it. As he recovers, he whips around to see Mercer. He charges him again, but Mercer pins him to the wall, then stabs him with his Claw, and leaves Heller to suffer.

As Heller lays in pain, a helicopter picks him up and carries him to the Yellow Zone, where he is poked and prodded by Gentek scientists, under the supervision of Blackwatch commander Colonel Rooks. As Dr. Koenig opposes Heller's demise by Lt. Riley, he muses that it is time for a little test.